Spinning toy having flexible elements with centrifugal masses thereon



3,135,066 MENTS WITH June 2, 1964 v M.

SPINNING TOY HAV R SCHERER ING FLEXIBLE ELE CENTRIFUGAL MASSES THEREONFiled June 5, 1962 INVENTOR Narc'e/ R. SCHERE'R PATENT AGENT UnitedStates Patent 3,135,066 SPINNING vTOY HAVING FLEXIBLE ELEMENTS WITHCENTRIFUGAL MASSES THEREON Marcel R. Scherer, 210 92nd Ave., Chomedy,Quebec, Canada Filed June 5, 1962, Ser. No. 200,119 Claims. {CL 46-47)The present invention relates to toys, and more particularly tocentrifugally and gravitationally operated toys.

The general object of the present invention resides in the provision ofa toy of the character described which is readily operated by a c 'ld toimpart thereto a variable rotational speed, the rotating assembly takingdifferent positions and shapes in dependence with the rotational speed.

Another object of the present invention resides in a toy of thecharacter described in which the rotatable assembly comprises animalsand/ or other figurines rotating in a circle to simulate more or less amerry-go-round.

Another object of the present invention resides in a toy of thecharacter described which is of simple and inexpensive construction yetdurable and attractive in operation.

The foregoing and other important objects of the present invention willbecome more apparent during the following disclosure and by referring tothe drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation of the toy at rest position;

FIGURE 2 is an elevation of the toy with the rotatable assembly inrotation;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional elevation and end partial section of the topportion of the toy on an enlarged scale;

and

FIGURE 4 is a sectional elevation and partial crosssection of the bottomportion of the toy on an enlarged scale.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings in which like referencecharacters indicate like elements throughout, the toy of the presentinvention consists essentially of a stick 1 forming a supporting memberof the rotational assembly, generally indicated at 2 and which comprisesa circular head member 3 rotatably supported on the upper end of stick,a ring 4 freely surrounding the lower portion of stick 1, and flexibleelongated elements 5 interconnecting head 3 and ring 4 and equallyangularly spaced around the periphery of head 3 and ring 4.

Stick 1 is preferably tapered and forms a handle portion 6 at its lowerend while its upper end may be pointed or is preferably terminated by aball 7, which freely and rotatably engages a spherical cavity 8 made inthe hub portion 9 of circular head 3. The cavity 8 opens at theunderface of hub 9 through a restricted opening 10 through which theball 7 has to be forced to enter cavity 8. Hub 9 is preferably made ofplastic, rubber or the like slightly resilient or compressible material.

Head 3 may be in the form of a solid disc or as shown in the drawings,constituted by a rim 11 depending from the outer downwardly curved endsof radial spokes 12 rigid with the central hub 9.

Ring 4 spacedly and freely surrounds the handle portion 6 of stick 1 andmay have a rectangular, square or circular cross-section. Ring 4 haspreferably a diameter substantially equal to that of head 3.

Each flexible element 5 is attached at both ends to ring 4 and head 3and includes intermediate its ends, a centrifugal mass 13 which may haveany shape or configura-' tion desired and preferably represents ananimal or other suitable figurines. Centrifugal mass 13 is the main massand is preferably mounted mid-way between the ends of flexible element5.

3,135,066 Patented June 2, 1964 In accordance with the invention, it ispreferred toadd secondary centrifugal masses 14 connected in flexibleelements 5 on each side of the main central mass 13 and at mid-waybetween said mass and the respective ends of the flexible elements 5.

The flexible elements 5 interconnecting masses 13 and 14 may consist ofwires, strings, tiny rigid rods, or the like, or may consist of aplurality of balls 15 attached to one another to form a string of beads,each bead having a protruding integral stud with an enlarged head 16 removably engaging the spherical cavity 17 of the next head. The beads aremade of a resilient material, such that they may be interconnected toone another by enter ing the enlarged head 16 under slight force withinthe cavity 17 of the next head. This system'is similar to certain typesof necklace in which the beads are connected in similar fashion.

In similar manner, the top end bead 'of the flexible element 5 may haveits enlarged head 16 engaging a cavity 17' made in the underface of thehead 3, cavities 17 being equally spaced from each other around theperiphery of head 3. Inversely, the top face of the ring 4 may beprovided with a plurality of headed studs 18 removably engaging thecavity 17 of the bottom end head 15.

The secondary masses 14 may also be in the form of spheres with a studand enlarged head 19 at one end and a cavity 20 at the other end forconnecting said secodary masses with the beads of the flexible elements.

Finally, the figurines constituting the main centrifugal masses 13 arepreferably provided at one end with an elongated stud 'th enlarged headadapted to engage the cavity 17 of the next bead and with a cavitysimilar to cavity 17 at its opposite end for receiving the head 16 ofthe next bead 15.

If the series of beads 15 are replaced by thin rods, strings, or thelike, the ends of said rods, strings or the like may be provided withelements defining a cavity 17 of one end of the string or rod and aheaded stud 16 at the other end.

It will be noted with the bead arrangement shown in the drawings, it ispossible to change the relative position of the centrifugal masses 13and 14 along the flexible elements 5 to thus vary accordingly the shapeassumed by the rotating assembly 2.

To use the toy, the lower handle portion 6 of stick 1 is gripped withone hand and made to oscillate so that the upper end of the stick 1 willdescribe a circle or other closed figure. During this movement, thecentral portions of the flexible elements 5 will become spaced from thestick 1 unequal amounts whereby the rotational assembly 2 will becomeunsymmetrical or/ and unbalanced which will set up rotational forces insaid assembly 2. This is possible due to the fact that ring 4 enclosesthe stick and is attached to the lower ends of the flexible elements 5.During this initial rotation, the ring 4 abuts the stick at sucessivelydifferent zones of its inner face. Once the rotational assembly 2 hasbeen set in rotation, one can diminish the amplitude of the oscillatingmovement of stick 1 while increasing the speed of said oscillatingmovement to thereby increase the velocity of assembly 2. With variablespeed of the assembly 2, the centrifugal forces acting on masses 13 and14 will vary whereby the assembly 2 will form different shapes with thering 4 moving up and down along the stick 1.

It has been found that the ring 4 freely surrounding the stick 1 andattached to the lower ends of the flexible elements is absolutelyessential, in accordance with the invention to set up rotationalmovement of assembly 2.

While a preferred embodiment in accordance with the invention has beenillustrated and described, it is under- 3 stood that variousmodifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit andscope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A toy comprising a stick forming an integral handle at one end, acircular head element rotatably mounted at its center on the other endof said stick, a ring spacedly and freely surrounding the said stick, alurality of substantially equally spaced elongated flexible elementsconnected at their ends to said head and to said ring for suspendingsaid ring from said circular head, and centrifugal masses carried bysaid flexible elements intermediate their ends, said ring delimiting aninside area greater than the maximum cross-sectional area of said stick,but capable of abutting said stick at any point of the periphery of itsinner surface.

2. A toy as claimed in claim 1, wherein said circular head and said ringhave substantially equal diameters and said circular head is mounted onsaid stick for tilting a as well as for rotating movement relative tosaid stick. 3. A toy as claimed in claim 1, wherein said centrifugalmasses are located along said flexible elements approximately atmid-distance between the ends of said flexible elements attached to saidring and head.

4. A toy as claimed in claim 3, including additional centrifugal massesattached to said flexible elements beteen said first named masses andthe ends of said flexible elements.

5. A toy as claimed in claim 1, wherein the center of said circular headhas a spherical cavity with a restricted opening and the end of saidstick is formed with an enlarged spherical head for removably and freelyengaging said cavity for tilting as well as rotating movement of saidcircular head relative to said stick.

References Cited in the file of this patent France Feb. 27, 1952

1. A TOY COMPRISING A STICK FORMING AN INTEGRAL HANDLE AT ONE END, ACIRCULAR HEAD ELEMENT ROTATABLY MOUNTED AT ITS CENTER ON THE OTHER ENDOF SAID STICK, A RING SPACEDLY AND FREELY SURROUNDING THE SAID STICK, APLURALITY OF SUBSTANTIALLY EQUALLY SPACED ELONGATED FLEXIBLE ELEMENTSCONNECTED AT THEIR ENDS TO SAID HEAD AND TO SAID RING FOR SUSPENDINGSAID RING FROM SAID CIRCULAR HEAD, AND CENTRIFUGAL MASSES CARRIED BYSAID FLEXIBLE ELEMENTS INTERMEDIATE THEIR ENDS, SAID RING DELIMITING ANINSIDE AREA GREATER THAN THE MAXIMUM CROSS-SECTIONAL AREA OF SAID STICK,BUT CAPABLE OF ABUTTING SAID STICK AT ANY POINT OF THE PERIPHERY OF ITSINNER SURFACE.